Prayer

Whilst all our Services and Small Groups include times of prayer, in addition there are the following opportunities to join with others in prayer:-

Prayer Ministry

The Prayer Ministry Group meet before the 10:30 morning service from 10:00 to 10:20 each Sunday in the Church Office to pray, and continues to offer prayer after the service to anyone who requests it, usually in the Prayer Corner. We see this as a real privilege and are all thankful to God for the way he works. We see the availability of the group as important and know people can seek us out at other times. Jane Fulford leads the team, and members of the team on duty can be identified by their blue badges. Confidentiality of all prayer requests to the team is a given.

Prayer Chain

The prayer chain at St James is made up of a group of people willing to be contacted by email and to pray when an urgent need for prayer is recognised. Often we are asked to pray for people suffering from illness or other tragic circumstances. We may have a request for prayer to support an individual in a difficult situation and we may also be asked to give thanks for a happy occasion, for example the birth of a child. The requests are not always for members of the church and may be for other family members or friends or work colleagues of the person requesting prayer. So it is important to keep a sense of confidentiality. It is very encouraging to those who pray when we receive feedback of how the Lord has answered prayer.

Anyone in the church family can request to be part of the prayer chain by emailing Sue Karsten on karsten222@btinternet.com and then will receive prayer requests as they come in.

To request the prayer chain to pray for a situation please get in touch with Sue and she will pass the request round the chain.

LiFT

“Listening In Fourth Tuesday” .The emphasis in the title of ‘listening’ is to compensate for our bias to think of prayer as coming to God with a shopping list. Although we do bring our prayer requests to God, as well as our prayers of thanks and worship, we spend a part of each LiFT sitting quietly in small groups listening for the whispers of God in words and pictures of encouragement, and praying for the Church and one another. Meeting monthly from 8pm to 9pm at the front of Church we do keep strictly to time. Further details are available from Margaret Mayer.

Focus Prayer Group

This is a new Prayer Group meeting every second Monday of the month from 8pm to 9pm at the front of Church, and like LiFT we do keep to the hour. Growing out of our Vision statement of ”being rooted in prayer and growing in our faith in Jesus Christ” its aim is to respond to and focus on the specific needs of our Church. This is a group for both young and old alike, and as such is informal in nature and includes a short time of discussion, worship, with the greater part in prayer. Whether you pray out loud or not, are experienced or inexperienced in prayer, an old hand at prayer groups or totally new to the concept, please do come along and be part of our prayers together. Further details are available from Margaret Mayer.

Prayer Corner

This new partitioned area can be found at front of Church, to the left of the Sanctuary. It is available whenever the building is open; usually this equates to Church Office hours. It is intended as a quiet area affording the opportunity to meet with God either as an individual or in small groups. To help you pray there is a Monthly Prayer Diary which includes a thought for the month, a list of specific prayer needs of the church and community and world events. In addition a small Prayer Station style activity is usually available.

Quiet days

There is normally at least one day each year when we meet away from Church for a ‘Quiet day’. This affords us an opportunity to meet together as a Church family for personal reflection, and to find rest and spiritual refreshment in different surroundings.

Also an event known as ‘REFLECREATE’ © led by Margaret Mayer usually happens yearly and is open to all. As the title suggests this offers a time to reflect on a passage from Scripture, and then respond to it creatively. This includes a time of silence, and finishes with a time of worship.